Eagle County sees no 2012 drunk-driving deaths

Daily file photo by Kristin Anderson
The Gore Range DUI Task Force reported that Eagle County had no alcohol-related fatalities in 2012. Here, Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Rich Armstrong walks toward a car that rolled from the westbound to the eastbound lane of I-70 when the driver lost control.

It's the first fatality-free year anyone can remember. During the past couple of years, Eagle County has suffered at least five alcohol related fatalities. The death toll spiked at 13 fatalities in 2007.

More than 40,000 vehicles roll through Eagle County on Interstate 70 each day, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

It's public education combined with increased law enforcement, Best said.

Eagle County's "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign through the holiday season saw 23 impaired-driving arrests, eight other significant arrests and 38 citations during the special enforcement period, Dec. 12 through Jan. 1.

"Unfortunately, the holidays are a prime time for impaired drivers," said Eagle County Sheriff Joe Hoy. "But drinking and driving is a choice, and we wanted to be out in force to show zero tolerance for those that choose to put their lives and the lives of innocent victims on the line."

Statewide success

The Colorado State Patrol's statewide anti-DUI enforcement saw similar results during the holidays.

The Colorado State Patrol reported no fatal crashes due to impaired driving during the holiday weekend, Dec. 28 through Jan. 2.

"Fortunately, none of our troopers had to knock on a door during the holiday weekend to tell a family that one of their loved ones was killed in a drunk-driving crash," said James Wolfinbarger, chief of the Colorado State Patrol.

If you're not who they're looking for, they'll quickly tell you to have a nice night and send you on your way and keep looking for that drunk driver, Lewis said.

"If everything's good, we want to try to find that person before they crash," Lewis said. "If it's 99 times of 100, we'd rather respond to 99 calls to find that one driver."

Nationwide, 32,885 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes during 2010, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Of those, 31 percent (10,228) occurred in alcohol-impaired crashes.